Pilot Debrief

BELL 206B near Lyons, OR — 2009-11-18

Final reportWPR10CA057
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Date
2009-11-18
Location
Lyons, OR, USA
Aircraft
BELL 206B
Registration
N16869
Category
Helicopter
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Maneuvering

Probable cause

The pilot's inadvertent encounter with a vortex ring state (settling with power) condition while he was descending, and his improper initial remedial action.

NTSB narrative

The purpose of the flight was for the pilot to relocate Christmas trees to a nearby drop site. The pilot said that as he was maneuvering the helicopter to the drop site with a load, the helicopter began to settle with power. In reaction he applied more collective to arrest the descent. The helicopter continued to descend and he then attempted to reduce the collective and maneuver forward. The helicopter touched down hard on the heels of the skids and the helicopter's nose came to rest in a pile of Christmas trees. According to the FAA's Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, when recovering from settling with power "the tendency on the part of the pilot is to first try to stop the descent by increasing collective pitch. However, this only results in increasing the stalled area of the rotor, thus increasing the rate of descent" and instead the pilot should recover by "increasing forward speed, and/or partially lowering collective pitch." The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have increased forward speed instead of increasing collective.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 1 docket document
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents1

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